16 | Why treating customers as numbers can damage brand with Martin Sheerin
In this episode, David Mannheim sits down with Martin Sheerin, Director of Digital Product at N Brown Group.
Martin explains how brands will gain more reward by prioritising decisions based on customer needs rather than lagging metrics like conversion.
After working for brands like Moneysupermarket, The Co-operative Bank, and Phones4u, Martin has over 16 years of expertise in eCommerce, user experience, and conversion rate optimisation. In this time, he has not only transformed businesses but also fostered teams to excel in creating innovative digital products and touchpoints that significantly improve customer journeys.
Topics Covered:
- Martin’s role as a Director of Digital Products at N Brown Group
- Understanding the difference between leading and lagging metrics
- The importance of customer-centric testing and optimisation
- N Brown's "Run, Grow, Transform" model for balancing short and long-term goals
- Advice for how to keep the customer at the heart of business decisions
Key Quotes:
- "If you think about customers as numbers, you'll drive the number up now, but it's very short-lived."
- "We're not only looking at the sale, but the whole loop - before you come to our websites through to how do I make you want to make a second purchase with us?"
- "If you just do conversion optimisation, you'd minimise the content and push people through. What we found was by making it a slightly longer process and helping people understand the product, we got more sign-ups and retained more customers."
Episode Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:06 Guest Introduction: Martin Sheeran
01:43 The Role of a Director of Digital Products
03:36 Understanding Leading vs. Lagging Metrics
06:41 The Importance of Customer-Centric Testing
17:15 The Three-Speed Model: Run, Grow, Transform
24:20 Martin's Advice For Other eComm Leaders
28:18 Outro
01:06 Guest Introduction: Martin Sheeran
01:43 The Role of a Director of Digital Products
03:36 Understanding Leading vs. Lagging Metrics
06:41 The Importance of Customer-Centric Testing
17:15 The Three-Speed Model: Run, Grow, Transform
24:20 Martin's Advice For Other eComm Leaders
28:18 Outro
Resources
- ‘A Brief History of Netflix Personalization’ by Gibson Biddle → https://gibsonbiddle.medium.com/a-brief-history-of-netflix-personalization-1f2debf010a1
Creators and Guests
Host
David Mannheim
David is a big kid, a big Disney fan and a big geek. He founded User Conversion which was acquired by Brainlabs, is the author of The Person in Personalisation, and now the host of Statements of Intent. His mission is to help retailers care more for their customers by listening, being appropriate, being familiar and creating a relationship. He is doing that through his new start up, Made With Intent, a platform that helps retailers do just this by diligently understanding customer intent.
Guest
Martin Sheerin
Director of Digital Product at N Brown Group. After working for brands like Moneysupermarket, The Co-operative Bank, and Phones4u, Martin has over 16 years of expertise in eCommerce, user experience, and conversion rate optimisation. In this time, he has not only transformed businesses but also fostered teams to excel in creating innovative digital products and touchpoints that significantly improve customer journeys.
